![]() ![]() It is cathartic.Though Crippled Black Phoenix have had touches of metal in their music, enough for us to include them on our website, they remained firmly a non-metal band, albeit one that's a bit hard to categorize. It works wonderfully as a conclusion to such an intricate and carefully designed album. The resulting atmosphere is haunting, creepy but also strangely uplifting. It’s an interesting contrast instrumentally as the repeating piano motif is not distinctly eerie, it’s the arrangement of the vocals, use of reverb and dissonant background effects that build up the layers of different sounds. The gentle piano and strings accompanying Maria’s haunting vocals create a very emotional sound. Into Dust is beautiful, delicate and eerie. Unlike that track, Hunting Grounds has a much darker feel. It has a similar feel to their track The Promise from the A Star-Crossed Wasteland album. Featuring Joe Cotela of Ded, the track has an extra dimension with the different tones and textures of Joe’s and Maria’s vocals. This is also clearly seen in Hunting Grounds, the second single from the album. In This Moment have mastered the art of producing a theatrical atmosphere which comes across wonderfully in their recorded tracks. The dark, heavy atmosphere in God is She is incredibly powerful. The catchy chorus hook of this track sees the pop-metal style, seen clearly on their Blood album, referenced. It fills in the gaps of the rhythm guitars and introduces extra textures to the mix. The intense energy of As Above, So Below is cultivated through their choice of synths. In This Moment have delved deeper into the world of synths – accenting, developing and enhancing their sound in a way they haven’t explored before. It has a grounding effect without being overly heavy and contrasting too much with the vocal range. The addition of the marching snare adds further power to the rhythm running through the track. Lead motifs give little snippets of variation. The cleaner guitar tone, palm-muted, along with the piano, gives a sense of momentum and builds up in the first verse of the track, it’s fairly low in the mix but holds its own in the space. The instrumentation has been used effectively subtle techniques have a powerful impact on the effect of the overall track. The arrangement of harmonies emphasizes the emotion conveyed in this track. Vocally, Maria takes a clear focus on this track. The bass in this track comes predominantly in the form of synths. It’s much softer than perhaps would be expected, seeing as In This Moment have shown their skills with the heavier sounds. Mother, the title track of the album, brings a different sound. It also brought together three fantastic female vocalists who flourish in the heavier, hard rock style significantly deviating from the original track. It won’t necessarily appeal to everyone, but the unique stance they took through including Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Taylor Momsen of Pretty Reckless, brought a metal comes hard rock feel to the instrumentation. With a track of such world renown, that is so deeply rooted in rock history, In This Moment had to do something special with it. The cover of Queen’s We Will Rock You was completely unexpected. Their sound is perfectly represented through this. The catchy-chorus hook combined with delicious guitar tones and dramatic instrumentation form an incredible track. ![]() Their first single, The In-Between, explicitly references hits from their past: Blood, Whore, Beautiful Tragedy and Sick Like Me. It’s clear influences from all aspects of their discography have been drawn with the addition of some new flavours. Full of surprises, this album delivers the full range of In This Moment’s sound. Maria’s vocals, greatly contrasting, are able to fill all of the space above this. The simplicity of the arrangement is highly effective. The marching effect of the rhythm for the instrumentation gives a powerful feel. As its title might suggest, this track has an uplifting feel to it, whilst the bass and percussion instrumentation keep their sound grounded. The addition of Maria’s haunting vocals, powerful percussion and the precision layering of such varied instrumental textures segues seamlessly into Fly Like an Eagle. The powerful bass synth is unsettling from the off. The Beginning creates the dark, haunting and dramatic build-up that this album deserves. Drawing on spiritual and philosophical ideas, they have created a concept that transcends cultural and metal boundaries. Mother is the next incredible chapter in their journey. Their 2012 album Blood truly changed In This Moment’s direction and from this they have evolved and flourished. Over a decade later they have not only discovered a heavier sound but have embraced the theatrical, in their music, image, and live performances. In This Moment have undergone a number of incarnations since the release of the debut record Beautiful Tragedy in 2007. ![]()
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